The Lafayette High School Band Program has continually set high standards in concert band performance. Each year the Lafayette Concert Bands receive distinguished ratings at KMEA festivals and display technique, musicianship, and utmost class in all of their performances. The rich history of the Concert Bands includes representation at regional, national and international events, such as the Smokey Mountain Music Festival at the University of South Carolina, the Dogwood Arts Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee, and the Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, DC. The group was honored to perform in the 1993 Midwest International Band Clinic in Chicago, Illinois, under the baton of former director J. Steven Moore.
Lafayette is privileged to feature three very fine bands at the concert level: Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. Each ensemble is taught in a full-year course within the curriculum of Lafayette High School. Lafayette Concert Bands present at least four annual concerts in a variety of venues, including the professional setting of the University of Kentucky Singletary Center for the Arts. The combined bands perform annually at Lafayette High School’s graduation ceremony.
During the fall semester, all concert band students participate in the Pride of the Bluegrass marching band. In the spring, students are placed by audition into one of the three bands for the following school year. Lafayette consistently has a high representation of students in District Honor Band, Kentucky All-State Band, and All-State Jazz Band, and who participate in such extracurricular activities as the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra and the Jazz Arts Foundation Youth Ensemble. Many Lafayette musicians choose to perform in the annual solo and ensemble festival, where they have a great opportunity to expand their musical horizons, while learning from those in the musical profession. The success of this performance aspect is greatly attributable to the fact that many Lafayette students study privately on their instrument or take advantage of the M2 program, Lafayette’s private lesson program.